Bunny and Susan sat quietly by the cheerful fire warming their paws.
Bunny said, "My fur and whiskers, I hope Snubby Nose got home safely."
Susan said, "Bless my buttons, I was thinking of Tippy Toes this very
minute. Those two cunning little Bunnies are as much alike as two peas!
We could not tell them apart if Snubby Nose did not cry so much."
Bunny said, "I suppose we shall have no visitors for some time now."
"Don't be too sure of that," said a gruff old voice, "Here I am
standing now." There stood Grandpa Grumbles in the doorway. He had
never looked so happy in all his life. He struck the floor fiercely
with his green cotton umbrella and said,
"The Circus Cotton-Tails will come,
A-rat-a-tat, just hear the drum."
Bunny and Susan listened. Sure enough, they heard the "rat-a-tat," of a
drum. Soon they heard the Lion roar in his cage. They all went out as
fast as they could.
_There came the Circus Cotton-Tails on parade!_
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced in front beating a drum.
Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles cried, "Hurrah, hurrah, for the
Big Parade!"
Grandpa Grumbles waved his green cotton umbrella and shouted, "Have you
a merry-go-round?"
The Circus Cotton-Tails stood still. They cried "Hurrah, Bunny! Hurrah,
Susan! Of course we have a merry-go-round."
Then the real little Circus Parade stopped. The Circus Cotton-Tails
cried, "Hurry, hurry! Help us unpack."
They went to one of the wagons and began to unpack the merry-go-round.
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes helped and Bunny and Susan helped too.
Grandpa Grumbles cried,
"One for the money, ten for the show,
Put up the tent, and away we go."
He forgot to grumble. He had never been so happy before in all big
life.
It took the Circus Cotton-Tails and Bunny and Susan just exactly one
hour and sixteen minutes to put up the merry-go-round, and Grandpa
Grumbles bossed the job.
"Will it go?" asked Bunny and Susan under their breath.
Grandpa Grumbles was the first to get in. He cried,
"I'm the first to get inside,
Come one and all and have a ride."
Susan said, "Oh, dear! I have lost my spectacles."
It took the Circus Cotton-Tails one hour and sixteen minutes to find
Susan's spectacles. There they were safe and sound upon her forehead
all the time! Then Bunny went in-doors and burned his paw again by
candle-light and it took one hour and sixteen minutes to get his paw
well.
Grandpa Grumbles did not grumble a bit. He only sat patiently in the
merry-go-round and said to Susan,
"Now, the spectacles are found,
All jump in the merry-go-round."
Then he called good-naturedly to Bunny,
"If you'll use a lamp dear Bunny,
It will save you time and money."
Bunny and Susan got into the merry-go-round, and the Circus
Cotton-Tails got in too.
They were all ready for a ride when Grandpa Grumbles said,
"Some are absent, whom do you suppose?"
The Circus Cotton-Tails shouted in one breath,
"_Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes!_"
Snubby Nose was so little he could not climb up into the merry-go-round
without help. He cried and he screamed and he howled! Tippy Toes was so
little he could not climb in either but he waited patiently below.
Grandpa Grumbles saw what was the matter. He lowered his green cotton
umbrella and helped Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes up into the merry-go-round.
Now they were ready to start. They all cried,
"Give three cheers, away we go,
The Circus Cotton-Tails, ho, ho!"
The merry-go-round would not start. They all got out to see what was
the matter.
_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
Doctor Cotton-Tail jumped out from under the merry-go-round and said,
"A-riding, too, I'd like to go,
Though I may take a nap or so."
Grandpa Grumbles said cheerfully,
"You'll take no nap when with us you go,
We may ride too fast, but never slow!"
Doctor Cotton-Tail took a seat in the merry-go-round.
The music began to play and they went round, and round, and round,
faster and faster. Bunny began to talk about his fur and whiskers.
Susan began to talk about her buttons. Grandpa Grumbles shouted,
"I'm just as happy as I can be,
The Circus life is the life for me."
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes jumped down from the merry-go-round and
danced this way and danced that way, and for all I know they are
dancing yet!
More Cotton Tail Stories
CHAPTER I
Bunny Cotton-Tail and Susan were sitting by the fire, warming their
paws.
[Illustration: "BUNNY AND SUSAN WERE SITTING BY THE FIRE"]
"The evenings are growing cold," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. "It feels like
snow to-night."
"Oh, joy!" cried Bunny Boy, "how I do love snow!" Then he began to jump
around the room so fast that Susan was afraid he would upset the table.
"I am going to play that the sofa is a hill, and slide down!" he cried.
Then Susan said if Bunny Boy did not sit down in his little red rocking
chair and be good, she would put him in a bag!
So Bunny Boy sat down, but he began to cry. There is no telling what
would have happened just then if a soft "tap, tap," had not been heard
on the window.
Susan looked out. There stood Bushy Tail with his traveling bag in his
hand!
Susan was a little afraid to let him in, but there was nothing else to
do, so she opened the door, and whisk! bound! Bushy Tail was in,
hugging Bunny Cotton-Tail!
"Who is the youngster!" asked Bushy Tail, pointing to Bunny Boy.
Then Bunny Boy made himself as small as possible. He did not care for
Bushy Tail.
Bushy Tail said he must tell about his trip. Besides, he had something
for Bunny and Susan in his bag.
It had begun to snow, and Bushy Tail was very wet. He stood by the fire
and warmed his paws. Susan whispered to Bunny that she had never seen
so handsome a fox in her life.
All the time Bushy Tail had a cunning look in his eyes. After his fur
was dry, and he had had a bowl of soup, he opened his bag, and my! what
fine things he took out!
There was dried fruit for Susan. There was fresh cabbage for Bunny. And
there were oranges, and peaches, and pears! They had a fine feast, but
the greatest fun of all was just before they went to bed, when Bushy
Tail took from his bag a little telephone. He hung it on the wall and
fooled the rabbits with it for nearly an hour.
It had a little bell and a receiver, and one could call "hello" into
it.
Perhaps Bunny and Susan would never have known the joke about the
telephone if it had not been for Bunny Boy. Bunny Boy crept out from
under the sofa, where he had been hiding, and climbed up in a chair and
pulled the receiver hard. Then, bang! the top of the telephone came
off, and showed that it was only a candy box!
Bushy Tail did not like this, but Bunny Cotton-Tail said he would
rather have it a candy-box, after all, as he was a little afraid of
telephones!
Then they shook one another's paws, and went to bed.
Bushy Tail slept on a sofa in the parlor. About eleven o'clock he got
up and began, to stir around. There was the same cunning look in his
eyes.
First he went and looked at Susan Cotton-Tail, and thought, "I have
half a mind to eat you up." Then he went and looked at Bunny Cotton-Tail
and thought, "I have half a mind to eat you up." Then he saw Bunny
Boy out in the kitchen, wide awake, eating mince pie! Bushy said, "I
have you, and I will eat you up!"
But Bunny Boy was too quick for him. He ran down the stairs, into the
cellar, and had hopped through the cellar window in less than no time.
Then Bushy Tail took a mince pie and put it in his right-hand coat
pocket. He took a currant pie and put it in his left-hand coat pocket.
He hid an apple pie in his hat, and he went slyly out of the door with
a piece of blueberry pie in his mouth!
Next morning, when Bunny and Susan awoke, they saw that their pies were
gone, and they saw that Bushy Tail and Bunny Boy were gone too!
Susan Cotton-Tail cried, and Bunny Cotton-Tail whistled.
CHAPTER II
Why do you suppose Susan Cotton-Tail had made so many pies? There was
going to be a fair, and Susan had been asked to make pies for it. All
the animals were going to the fair.
"We cannot go when we have no pies to sell," said Susan.
"All the animals will come to find out why we are not there," said
Bunny.
Now Bunny Cotton-Tail was a very clever rabbit, even though he was
getting old. He put on his overcoat and took a card and a hammer, and
went out.
He was out a long time, tacking something up on the front door.
When he had finished, he asked Susan to come out and get a breath of
air.
They walked up and down in front of the house. Then Susan began to
laugh, and then she began to sneeze, and then she laughed and sneezed
together, and what do you suppose was the matter?
Bunny Cotton-Tail had put up this sign on the house,
SCARLET FEVER HERE
"Well," said Bunny, "if you don't want to go anywhere or have any one
come to see you, just put up a sign like that, and see how well it will
work!"
Bunny and Susan went back into the house and peeped out their front
window to see how the animals would act when they saw the sign.
First came Bushy Tail, big as life, trotting along. When he saw the
sign he waved his beautiful tail in the air and ran down the road as
fast as his legs could carry him!
Next came Mr. Owl. He read the sign aloud, and flew away.
So all day long, animals came to ask why Bunny and Susan did not come
to the fair, and all were frightened and ran away.
Early in the evening old Grizzly came. He had followed Bushy Tail from
California.
"What a beautiful bear!" said Susan.
"He looks kind," said Bunny.
Old Grizzly read the sign. He did not pass by as the other animals had
done. He went straight up to the front door and knocked.
"Perhaps he can't read," said Bunny, so he shouted, "Scarlet Fever
here!"
Old Grizzly nodded his head. He said he had had scarlet fever three
times, and he was not afraid to have it again.
So they opened the door and let old Grizzly in. Then they all had a
jolly time, and Bunny told why he put up the sign on the house.
"You may have a new kind of scarlet fever," said Old Grizzly, "maybe I
shall catch it!" and they all laughed.
Old Grizzly had been in a circus, and had traveled in the East and in
the West. He could tell lovely stories, so he stayed a long time and
told stories, and Susan Cotton-Tail went out in the kitchen and came
back with a mince pie in each hand. (These pies had been hidden away in
a tin.)
They all enjoyed the pies, and then Bunny asked old Grizzly to spend
the night with them. Old Grizzly said, "No, thank you." The house next
door was vacant and he was going to live there.
Susan held the candle at the door and old Grizzly went to his new home.
"I like him, but I am glad he went out for the night," said Bunny.
"Just think!" Susan said, "he has promised to come in every night and
tell us a story!"
CHAPTER III
When old Grizzly came next evening he had a book tucked under his arm.
"What have you there?" asked Bunny and Susan together.
It was some time before old Grizzly would tell. Then he coughed and
said he had one story that every one liked so well that he had written
it down, and drawn pictures for it.
The two rabbits begged so hard to see the pictures that old Grizzly
opened the book and showed them all the pictures before he began to
read. And this is the story he read:
Once there was a gentleman who wrote stories. He had a fine large cat
called Whiskers.
One day Whiskers thought he would see the man write his story, so he
sat up on the desk beside him.
The man started to write a story about an elephant. It was to be a long
story with big words in it.
Whiskers wanted to be petted just then, and as the man did not notice
him, he gave the pen a little slap, and it made a funny mark down the
page.
"Never mind," said the man, "that will do for the path along which the
elephant walked."
The man's pen was a lovely thing to play with, but Whiskers had a nicer
plaything himself. He began to go round and round after his own tail.
Round and round he went, until he upset the ink. Then he was so scared
that he ran and hid.
The man only laughed, and said he would draw funny little figures where
the blots of ink were.
He called Whiskers back and went on with his story. He was just
wondering how he would draw the seats inside the circus tent, when
Whiskers put his paw down on the wet page, and the man said:
"Why, Whiskers, you certainly are an artist."
Then he began to wonder how he could show what a big space the elephant
covered when he walked, and just then the cat walked over the paper, to
show him!
The man was so pleased then, that he laid down his pen and gave
Whiskers a big hug.
"Pooh!" said Whiskers, "that was nothing. I could write a better story
than you can, any day!"
You see, Whiskers was not a polite cat.
"Did Whiskers write the story?" asked Bunny.
Susan winked at Bunny and said:
"Old Grizzly, that is the best story of all, and I believe you made it
up yourself!"
Then old Grizzly blushed under the fur on his cheeks, and Bunny ran and
got a big bouquet and stuck it in his paw!
Old Grizzly went home feeling very happy indeed.
CHAPTER IV
The next evening Susan begged old Grizzly to tell her another story
about Whiskers. Grizzly said he knew one, but he kept it in the back of
his head and he could not find it. So he told them the story of Carlo,
instead.
Carlo was a fine dog. He had but one fault. He liked to suck eggs.
Day after day the cook went out into the hen-house to get eggs, and day
after day there were no eggs to be found.
At first she thought it must be a rat that stole her eggs, and she set
a trap. A clever old rat came and ate the cheese, but he never got
caught.
One day the cook saw Carlo sucking an egg. Whisk! she was after him
with a broom, and gave him a sound beating! But this did not cure Carlo
of his bad habit. He went into the hen-house and stole eggs whenever he
pleased.
The cook said she was not going to allow this, so one day she called
the dog to her in a most friendly way, and held out half an egg in her
hand.
Carlo thought that the cook had made up her mind to let him eat all the
eggs he wanted, so he took the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it
quickly.
Then he began to behave very strangely. He yelped with pain, and ran
out into the yard and rolled over and over in the snow.
"Good! Now you will steal no more eggs," said the cook.
What do you suppose was the matter with Carlo? The egg the cook had
given him was full of red pepper, and his mouth burned as though on
fire. There is no telling what the poor dog would have done if a little
girl had not come along just then.
The little girl had found out what the cook had done. She crept out of
the house and said:
"Poor Carlo, poor doggie, come to me!" and then she took snow and
washed out Carlo's mouth and patted him on the head until he felt all
right again.
Carlo never forgot the little girl's kindness, and he never stole eggs
any more.
Just as old Grizzly stopped speaking, "Tap, tap," was heard on the
window. They looked up and saw Bushy Tail outside.
"Let him in. I'll see that he does no harm," said old Grizzly. They
opened-the door, and Bushy Tail jumped in.
Now, Bushy Tail would not have come if he had not had something to say,
for he felt a little ashamed about the pies.
What do you suppose Bushy Tail had come to say? He had heard of a big
gold mine in the West, and he wanted Grizzly Bear and the Cotton-Tail
family to go west with him to buy the gold mine.
Old Grizzly was delighted with the idea, but Bunny and Susan said they
would rather stay at home. As they were talking, "Tap, tap," was heard
on the window again, and there stood Bunny Boy. He had come home from
his travels!
Bunny Boy's head was tied up and he looked as though he had had a hard
time. Susan asked if he would like to go west and look for gold, but
Bunny Boy only shook his head.
End of Project Gutenberg's Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, by Laura Rountree Smith